Fugitive Mass. sex offender arrested in Concord

A Massachusetts sex offender who had gone missing after he was released from the New Hampshire State Prison in June was detained yesterday in Concord after local and federal authorities determined he had been living among the city’s homeless population.

Stephen Frostholm Jr., 47, was taken into custody about noon as he was exiting The Friendly Kitchen, according to Jeffrey White, a local investigator with the U.S. Marshals Service. Frostholm had been wanted on two outstanding arrest warrants, one out of New Hampshire on failure to update his sex offender registration and another out of Massachusetts for having violated his parole.

Frostholm is considered a high-risk sex offender, meaning he is highly likely to reoffend, White said. He was convicted in 2001 of multiple counts of rape of a child and indecent assault and battery of a child under 14, the Marshals said, and has been convicted of similar charges in Maine and New Hampshire.

White said officials determined through interviews that Frostholm was living in the area. Yesterday’s arrest was not planned, he said; officers had gone to the food pantry to gather additional information about Frostholm’s whereabouts. The Concord Police Department and law enforcement agents from Massachusetts and the U.S. Marshals jointly executed the detention.

Frostholm was held without bail at the Merrimack County jail and will eventually be returned to Massachusetts, White said.

(Jeremy Blackman can be reached at 369-3319, jblackman@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JBlackmanCM.)